Give Me Your Hands
Richmond theaters and Richmond
audiences: A drama in at least four acts
By ANGELA LEHMAN-RIOS
THE PLOT
As the lights come up on a new theater season in town, Fifty Plus is
curious about the state of theater in Richmond. The downtown performing
arts space, CenterStage, is under construction at last, even though one
of its original slated tenants, TheatreVirginia, closed in 2002. Two new
theaters (well, they’re only 15 years old; that’s new, right?),
Firehouse Theatre Project and Richmond Triangle Players are successful
and growing. Even newer companies (Sycamore Rouge, Henley Street—only
two of several) are generating excitement among audiences and critics.
But let’s step backstage and talk with some of
Richmond’s theater professionals who have been around for more than a
decade, or more than two decades, or more than five decades. What
changes have they seen in the world of theater here? What’s on their
minds as the house lights dim?
An important note on the script:
Words attributed to people are based on conversations between the
speaker and the author, but only words within quotation marks are direct
quotations. Scenes in which “Fifty Plus” appears are based on real
settings. Other scenes are described using creative liberties.
THE CAST
Jim Bynum, Actor. Large, expressive
facial features. Able to take listeners into confidence with a
well-modulated voice and simple, yet precise words.
Michael Gooding, Managing director
of Richmond Triangle Players. Booming voice that cuts across a lunch
counter to the street outside. Down-to-earth, personable. Sue Griffin,
Barksdale/Theatre IV costumer. Tidy, silver hair and alert eyes. A lit
fuse, she speaks 20 stitches per inch but is also a careful listener.
Jan Guarino, Actress. Nimble,
compact, talkative. Quick to sense the mood of her audience.
Bruce Miller, Artistic director of
Barksdale Theatre and founding artistic director of Theatre IV. An
exceedingly articulate man, with a firm, clear phone voice. Modest,
polite.
Carol Piersol, Artistic director and
founding member of Firehouse Theatre Project. Unobtrusive smile, relaxed
gestures. Hidden energy may catch audience unawares.
Alice Schreiner, Actress. In her
80s, has gotten turned down for grandmother roles because her hair
wasn’t white enough. Practical, honest. With husband Ray, (“Richmond
Firsts” columnist for Fifty Plus), probably oldest continuously acting
couple in Richmond.
EXTRAS
Grant Mudge, Artistic director of
Richmond Shakespeare Company.
Fifty Plus, A magazine.
ACT I
New theater companies seem to be on every
other cor-ner. Is Richmond booming?
Scene 1
A small home office, walls lined with shelves of
neatly labeled three-ring binders. A filing cabinet drawer stands open,
and the desk sports piles of books, newspapers, magazines and file
folders. Nothing is disorderly, but the sight gives the impression of
barely controlled chaos.
ALICE enters and looks around, exasperated.
ALICE: Ray! Where are you? He’d better not be out
trying on new beards for his 20th year as Santa Claus at Swift Creek
Mill Theatre. At least Swift Creek is still around, and Ray’s been with
it since the beginning. So many theaters aren’t around any more:
Richmond Ensemble Theatre, the Living Room Players, Richmond Summer
Theatre, The Barn…
She runs her hand along a row of binders,
reflectively.
He’s got the whole history of Richmond theater in
here. Of course, there are so many little theaters now, too. “Companies
come and go. Young people have enthusi-asm and energy. That’s good,
because it fosters new thinking and new ideas.”
She notices a binder out of place and switches
its position.
How did 1950 get all the way over here? We’ve seen a
lot of theater in other places. “We search out theaters on vacation,”
take trips to theater festivals around the country. “We’ll do things
like go to New York by train on Tuesday” and see shows all week, come
back on Friday.
And I’ll tell you something, in Richmond we have
a lot of theater, but there’s always room to grow.
Scene 2
A restaurant booth in the Fan. Clatter of plates
and silverware, rattle of check printers and cash registers.
FIFTY PLUS: As I’ve talked with other people, many
seem to mention that we’ve seen a lot of new theater companies in the
past several years.
MIKE, leaning forward over his salad: “For its size,
Richmond might have more theater companies than any other city!” Big
ones, small ones… when you think of Swift Creek Mill and how long it’s
been around… the old Barksdale was the first dinner theater in the
country…!
He cuts his lettuce with knife and fork as his
enthusiasm quiets down.
“The biggest problem for small theaters is having a
space that helps them be consistent and be identified.” For us, that was
a benefit of working in Fielden’s, the private club with primarily gay
clientele, where we’ve been the past 16 years, because people could
identify us with the club.
His voice climbs back to its usual pitch.
But it’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter, we
were on the second floor, we couldn’t get any grants because we weren’t
ADA-compliant. But our new space on Altamont Avenue—it should open next
year—it’ll be completely accessible!
GRANT enters, walks by the table and lays down a
flyer advertising Richmond Shakespeare’s 2008-09 season.
GRANT: “I thought I knew that voice!”
MIKE: We were just talking about the new space.
GRANT: Yes, and we’re looking forward to ours next
year in CenterStage. “On time and on budget, that’s what they told me
yesterday.” He taps his stack of flyers on his palm and grins
hopefully.
MIKE: On time and on budget! Well, have a good one.
GRANT exits.
FIFTY PLUS: Is he walking around the Fan handing out
flyers?
MIKE: That’s how you do it.
Scene 3
A coffee shop, bathed in the light of a drizzly
day, muted greens and oranges on the walls. JIM gazes into a nearly full
cup of coffee which he turns thoughtfully as he speaks to FIFTY PLUS.
JIM: “Haymarket… I never worked there, but I saw many
shows there. So many places have shut down.” Let’s see… Gilpin Stage
Company, I was involved with that. “It was short-lived—came along just
before the funding slice. We worked in different spaces. Very few
companies have actual space.” He pauses, then looks up.
“But some of the great changes—Richmond theater has
grown up gracefully. Some folks have suffered as a result of closures
and reduced funding for nonprofits, particularly on the federal level.
Those who managed to stay rooted themselves in the area and grew up.”
ACT II
Are productions getting smaller so theater
companies can save money on actors, scenery, costumes and related
expenses?
Scene 1
A tiny, bare room has been built in the middle of
an empty stage. In it, BRUCE sits at a too-small desk; JAN and SUE perch
on stools in another corner, knees nearly touching. Outside the room,
CAROL relaxes in an office chair.
Spotlight comes up on BRUCE.
BRUCE, speaking into a phone: “I think there’s been a
tendency of late to do smaller-cast shows because of economic reasons.
If our theatres were able to offer union contracts and do larger
productions, we’d have the opportunity to give more work to ‘senior’
actors… A generation ago, many of the most popular shows had a cast of
20 or 25. We do those occasionally, but fewer and fewer because of the
expense.” Spot moves to JAN and SUE.
JAN: Theaters are doing shows with smaller
casts—that’s true everywhere. “My husband is a playwright, and he’s now
writing shows with that in mind, so they’ll actually get produced.”
SUE: “At TheatreVirginia in the ’80s, it wasn’t
unusual to have casts of 35.”
JAN: “It was great. You might have the lead in one
and a walk-on in another.”
SUE: “Then federal arts funding dropped off…”
JAN: “Now, we have small theaters doing small shows.
And the pay’s not very good at smaller theaters.” If you get a union
con-tract, it’s “a teeny, weeny Equity con-tract.” And, in the ’80s “it
was nothing to have five or six people in a commercial spot. Not
now—it’s almost always one person. Commercial work is very competitive.
SUE: The size of theater productions is significant
from a costuming standpoint, too. Barksdale has four full-time costumers
and we hire a lot of extra work at times. If there’s not enough of this
type of hourly costuming work all around town, those people will have to
get full-time jobs elsewhere, and then they’re not available when we
need them in cos-tuming.
JAN: But you know, if they tell me to wear rags, I’ll
wear rags and I’ll be happy, because it means I have work.
Tiny room goes dark. Spot moves to CAROL.
CAROL: Richmond has more companies, in more spaces,
doing more risky plays. There’s more employment for actors and
designers. Smaller casts? No, that’s not a consideration for us.
Stage goes dark. BRUCE, JAN and SUE remove their
own props. CAROL stands up and walks off, leaving her chair.
ACT III
Can Richmond audiences handle any kind of
content in a play these days?
Scene 1
CAROL is seated in her chair in an upstairs room
of the Firehouse Theatre. On the wall hang posters from “Reefer Madness”
and other Firehouse productions.
FIFTY PLUS sits in a chair near-by.
CAROL: I was a professional actress in New York until
my husband got a job transfer to Richmond in the early 1990s. I took an
acting class soon after I got here and met other professional actors. We
all wanted to see a new kind of theater in Richmond, one that would
produce contemporary American plays, that wasn’t afraid of doing
“riskier content,” things that TheatreVirginia couldn’t or wouldn’t do.
Scene 2
The Fan restaurant. MIKE is in the middle of a
long story.
MIKE: …My actor friend Steve would get so
frustrated—everyone would always say, “We can’t do that in Richmond.”
We’d go out for coffee or drinks after a show, and he’d com-plain about
the lack of theater companies willing to take risks, so finally I said,
“Why don’t you start one?”
FIFTY PLUS: Were you confident there was an audience
for gay theatre in Richmond?
MIKE: Well, when we started, we were thinking it
would just be a one-time event, a three-night run. And of course
Fielden’s had a mailing list we used, and everywhere we went, we’d tell
people about the show. We sold out all three nights.“Over the years,
we’ve done very well, patrons have been generous. Our advertisers want
to reach our audience, which is upscale. Half of the audience is over
50. Over the years it’s gotten older… and much wider” as we’ve built a
reputation of presenting thought-provoking and entertaining shows.
He reaches for a pat of butter.
You can have that last piece of bread. I don’t need
it. I like it, but I don’t need it. We did stuff that no one else was
doing. They’re doing it now, they weren’t doing it then.
Scene 3
The tiny room. ALICE sits on a chair holding a
full-color professional headshot of herself.
ALICE: When I was in my 60s I could pass for 40. One
day my agent asked me how old I really was, and I said,
“You don’t need to know that; it only matters
what I can play,” but she kept asking. Finally I told her. I never got
another call from her. I think she filed my photo under my chronological
age instead of ages I could play.“I’m really sad there aren’t more roles
for older people. There are very few for older women. Many of them
employ exaggerated humor, stereo-types. Or else they’re roles in serious
plays, and—with a few exceptions—theaters around here don’t do serious
plays as often.… They want to do plays that will bring people in.”
ACT IV
Change is good.
Scene 1
The coffee shop.
FIFTY PLUS: So most of your stage acting has been
with Theatre IV?
JIM: I was with them before they had a space. Now
they’ve got the Empire. “That’s the site on which I used to go to movies
when I was growing up in Jackson Ward…. It was an eerie feeling, the
first time doing a show on that stage.”
“It had been a place provided for African-Americans
to go see a movie, but for the most part we couldn’t be a part of the
creative process. There were barriers between me as a viewer and the
artistic part of it. Those barriers have vaporized.”
He sips his coffee.
“In talking about how Richmond theater has changed, I
have to say I can’t get by the constant, how it has remained the same.
If people were to be fair, they’d agree with me. I could audition for a
role and my only concern would be how well I would do in that audition.”
In Richmond, casting is based on talent and suitability for a role, not
ethnicity. “That’s been a great feeling to take into an audition. It has
been the best thing for me.”
Angela Lehman-Rios is the editor of FiftyPlus.
